Title: Harry Potter and the Summer's Secret

Author: Japhu

Pairing: HPSS

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter and his world and don't make any money with it.

Summary: For one week in summer Harry disappears without trace. When he comes back he claims to have no memory. But something happened and it changed him. It remains to be seen if for the better or the worse. (will be HPSS)

Category: action/adventure/angst

Feedback: highly appreciated

Chapter 14 - Hogwarts' Station

Hermione had been right. It really were only a few minutes until the train slowed down and the locomotive's whistle screamed their arrival throughout the country. Closing his trunk with a snap, Harry glanced skeptically out of the window and to the sky. When they had started in King's Cross the sky had been brilliantly blue, now the sun was hidden behind a diffuse veil of mist. Harry narrowed his eyes. He liked a blue sky much better. This twilight thing seemed ominous, although it just could be the first sign of autumn, too, despite the still summer warm temperatures. However, the light was bright enough to blind him and to leave a flickering green spot behind his eyelids whenever he closed them. Blinking, Harry sat down again. To avoid the masses, and in Harry's case the stares he would surely get, they had unanimously decided to wait until most students had left the train.

Harry sighed and forced his drooping eyelids open. His exhaustion did not let go of him. He yawned, his face still turned to the window. It could not be simple lack of sleep. Stifling another yawn, Harry watched his friend. Ron had taken the dangerous task to peer through the door and alert them when the path was clear. Only when the redhead beckoned them with a conspiratorial grin, Harry found the will to coerce his legs into working, taking one step after another without stumbling or falling. Carefully, Harry followed an excitedly bouncing Ron and an absent-minded Hermione, his thoughts only occupied with one thing: Sleep!

Harry hoped that he could evade the yearly, obligatory welcoming party in the common room and escape to bed. He took hold of the wall to support himself, yawning again. It had to be the magic, which made him feel totally drained. Even when they had been under way Harry had felt the castle's magic, but now when they were a lot closer to Hogwarts' grounds he became more restless and his anxiety grew. Harry shuddered. The magic came in waves. Sometimes he did not feel the pull at all, but then there were moments when he could barely breath and it felt as if someone sat heavily on his chest, a sumo ringer or perhaps an elephant or two. It was fortunate that they could leave their trunks behind. Harry would not have been able to take it with him in any way. He was glad that they reached the castle in just a few minutes now. He stepped down the stairs and drew a shuddering breath, because as soon as he got out of the train he felt its presence augment exceptionally. Hogwarts was close, really close.

Harry almost did not dare to look up, for even now when he looked to the ground he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the light became brighter, and it was not the sun – he recognized it now – but the magic itself. Blinking, Harry kept looking at his feet. The stones he stepped on, the grass that cleaved itself a way between them, the scurrying beetle and the snail it crawled over – everything was filled with magic and glimmered brightly to a greater or lesser extent. The trees, the bushes, the ground itself – from his viewpoint the whole world appeared in a rainbow colored, whispering light of low buzzing energy. It was a breathtaking sight, but incredibly taxing. Harry trembled in awe and shook his head when he remembered that there was a world behind those colors, in which he still had to fullfill a destiny.

Harry hesitated to follow his friends further. He doubted that his ability to cope with this amount of magic had its source in fear. However, it was a logical conclusion from everything that had happened today. Harry did not know if he should go on at all. Maybe he was better off going back to the Dursleys until he had more control. Harry snorted. What an absurd thought! He could not wait to get to the castle, even now; but when Harry felt the Hogwarts ground and the school, from this distance, stronger than even the continuous magical flow at Diagon Alley, he should be sure he could live through the time of accustoming before he went further.

Breathing deeply and only taking the smallest steps, Harry concentrated on the magical aura of Hogwarts. There was layer above layer, much too much for him to get an even halfway correct impression; though, he noticed a difference between the grounds of Hogwarts and the castle itself. All around he could see a brightly lit dome of magic, vibrating in the dull, rhythmical throb of the Earth itself. There was a lot of energy, and not everything was just for protection. Most of it was simply there, it had no task set, but it was… amazing.

The castle was strange – or more strange than anything else Harry had experienced. The magic surrounding and soaking it was frightening. It pulsed as if breathing, and Harry would swear that it was a sentient being of some sort – not like a person, but… a being. It appeared to be… happy to be filled with children, and… curious to feel something new… something old it had not perceived for quite a while now. Harry inwardly reared back when the castle's attention was directed at where he was standing like frozen. Chewing his bottom lip, he focused with narrowed eyes and turned to where the castle's towers glimpsed over the hilltops and the lazily swaying treetops of a seemingly endless forest. It was intriguing all the same, and it should not really come as a surprise. Hogwarts was thousands of years old – a lot of time to gather stray energy. A snap of a finger against his thoughtfully wrinkled forehead pulled Harry back from wherever his thoughts had gone to.

"Are you in there, Harry?" Harry shuddered, blinking as if awoken from a dream, and nodded.

"Of course," he mumbled nearly incoherently as the magic took its toll. It was harder than Harry had thought it possible and it would only increase with time, he knew. He smiled reassuringly at a worried looking Ron and, with a wave of the hand, indicated for him to go on – luckily Ron did not see its trembling.

Only now Harry found himself taking a look around for the other students. He searched fleetingly for classmates to get an inkling of the general opinion of the Boy-Who-Lived. However, as they were nearly the last ones on the way to the carriages there were not a lot of students to see. A few late first years huddled in a group together, bustling with excitement, and hurrying to reach the roaring shape of Hagrid, all the while looking at him wide eyed and awed. Some of the older ones seemed to waver between benign curiosity and open hostility. The few of the DA he saw passing greeted him with small nods of acknowledgement before they went their own ways. Then Cho and her friend Marietta passed by. Harry stared through them and adamantly ignored their looks. Frowning, he turned away from the girls. He missed the dark, assessing look from the other end of the station where the Potions Master got the last student running with only an elegant raise of his brow.

Instead of watching out for watchers, Harry called his attention to his carroty-haired friend, as he could see him out of the corner of his eye turning an interesting shade of red, seemingly still staring at the two girls. Harry frowned thoughtfully, but refrained to say anything. Last year Ron had not seemed too fond of either of the girls, but maybe that had only been because Cho had had eyes for Harry before she thought better and chose someone else. Harry turned around though, when Ron's eyes nearly popped out of the sockets, and took another look at her. His brows rose to new heights.

Junas Bra… thingamabob was bowing with an overly sweet smile toward a flabbergasted Cho Chang, who giggled with an unusually colored complexion despite that the boy was two years younger and an inch shorter than she, at the least. Harry suppressed a less flattering comment and, with a twitch of his lips, snapped Ron's hanging jaw back in place.

"Merlin!" Ron stared. "That's the son!" he declared in one of his brighter moments, and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Look into the future, Ron." Harry suggested. "At Hogwarts he'll have to wear school robes, so you'll be safe then and our eyes will get a break."

"But look at him!" His voice jumped a whole octave. Even Hermione ascended from her inner heights and took a look at what made Ron loose his cool again. The display between the Asian girl and the pink headed boy elicited no more than a fleeting, disapproving glance, before she dismissed them.

"He won't even be in our year." She went back to her complicated thought patterns, probably too demanding for simple minded people like her friends. Harry grinned. It was good to know Hermione on his side. She would be a great help in his research.

For a few meters Harry dragged Ron behind, then the boy followed on his own. Harry was not sure if Ron had been knocked over by the boy's or the girl's reaction. He shrugged this train of thoughts away, because it did not really matter as he had problems to solve, which were much more important to him.

Contemplatively, Harry looked ahead. The castle was brimming with magic and he would go there – voluntarily. Harry shook his head. Carelessness? Lack of sense and choices? Perhaps all of that. He could try to unravel the castle's magic forever and would not get one more clue. Harry could feel it – the vibrating of magic, more pressing with even the smallest step he took toward the ancient building. It would be interesting to see what happened when he let go of some of his own. The castle would react to any magical outburst in near vicinity, Harry felt that fact for true.

If he were not in a weakened state, on the brink of collapsing, and had a bit more control… Well, Harry would see the castle's reaction soon enough. After all he was on the way there. Harry cast a sharp look at the Thestrals in front of their carriage. They looked the same as last year, but something was missing. Harry looked intently.

Then he lost his step, startled out of reverie not by a wave of magic but a little girl, who ran straight into him – a first year even smaller than Harry remembered himself to have been. Harry blinked, tumbling from exhaustion and the vehemence of the impact like a drunk after a whole night of party. He only caught himself at the carriage he had just wanted to enter.

Taking a deep breath, Harry shoved all thought of unusual magical energy and suspiciously normal looking Thestrals away and bend down to a pair of round, tear-filled eyes, which looked up to him out from a dark-haired mop of seesawing curls. It seemed only a moment before she would burst into tears. Her lower lip was already trembling in fear. Harry tensed. He had not much experience with children of any age. All he knew about childhood was his happiness when it had finally been over – that would not help now, though.

"Hey there, why are you crying, little dove?" Harry tried to smile reassuringly. He did not like people crying, he really did not, no matter which age. The girl sniffed pityingly and wiped her nose with a sleeve of her robe, while trying to catch her breath. Harry grimaced.

"Don't do that, sweetheart." Harry gave a slightly crinkled Muggle handkerchief made of cellulose and waited a moment for her to calm down a bit. He looked around the girl to see where Hagrid with the other first years was and sighed. Harry could not quite see the lake and the boats from his position, but he heard – or more like felt – the magic working when the boats took off. Hagrid must have missed a head count.

"I… I have lost… I have lost Ginia!" Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Your friend?" Harry frowned.

"N-no. M-my… doll." A hiccup shook her body and Harry found himself reminded of Hermione not too long ago. He shuddered.

"I got her from my grand aunt this summer. She is m-magical and I… I named her after my b-brother's girlfriend." Now that was a surprise, but Harry hid it well.

"I'm certain Ginia will be safe with your baggage. Surely they'll bring her along with it after you're sorted." Harry was relieved that he had not run – or had not been run – Into a bigger problem. "You'll have to come with us, I fear. Your future classmates are gone already."

"But I can't leave her!" She cried, unbelieving that Harry could even make such a suggestion. However, she did not seem to care much for the lost boat trip. She looked at him filled with indignation, and Harry saw the tears gathering again.

"Well." Harry braced his hands against the thighs and sighed. "Then we'll have to find her, won't we?" They were already late, a bit more would not matter now. The radiating happiness in the little one's face was well worth the trouble.

"But don't cry, sweetheart." Harry warned with a raised finger. "I'm sure we'll find your Ginia." She nodded eagerly, tears forgotten.

"Hey, Ron?" Harry pointed at the small girl. "I believe she is your territory."

"Oh? Why?" The redhead did not even look, occupied to hide the last of his chocolate frogs in anticipation of a future encounter with an all too eager Seamus at the feast.

"She's searching for her doll Ginia." Harry shared his knowledge with a smile, "The doll's named after the girlfriend of her brother." He said with a look to the girl when Ron did not catch up at once.

"Oh!" Ron whirled around, and at his yell Hermione looked questioningly out of the waiting carriage. Neither Ron nor Harry bothered about her request for a bit of haste. They were the last one's still at the station. All of the other carriages already passed their field of vision and had vanished behind a wall of trees. Could not anything happen in an average way? Harry sighed.

Ron seemed a bit lost with the girl, so Harry took her hand and threw a casual glance back at Hermione. He could not just summon the doll, so he should let Hermione do it. His eyes narrowed. She would ask why he did not do it himself, and obviously she did not think of it herself as lost in her own world as she was at the moment. How thoughtless of her. Where was her mind? Harry frowned. She was probably preoccupied thinking about the happenings during the train ride. Harry wrinkled his nose and stepped up to the Thestrals. He patted the nearest one and wished silently that they would wait for them. He still could not get rid of the feeling that something was missing. He blinked and turned his attention back toward the task at hand.

"Well, little dove." Somehow Harry thought the name fitting. "Let's go looking for Ginia."

They hastened back to the train, Ron a bit slow to catch up, and for the first time Harry could see the trunks floating out of the train in a straight line before they disappeared with a soft pop when air filled the place they had occupied. It was a funny sight and the girl giggled wide eyed, despite her lost doll. After a moment Harry pulled her with him.

"Come, dove, we have to hurry." Harry hastened further, trusting Ron to come along on his own.

"We'll be really late, mate." Ron wheezed.

"And I care why?" Harry shrugged. It was not a firsts time that they ignored school rules. "At least this time it's not our fault."

"Ha, yeah." Ron grinned down at the curious blinking girl. "But Snape will probably turn it around and say we have kidnapped her or something." Harry shook his head. During the day he had become accustomed to Snape's magical aura. He could still feel him in near vicinity, even if he had not discovered his nook until now. Harry was just going to open his mouth to shut Ron up, when a cold voice made itself known, and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.

"You think so, Mr. Weasley?" Ron flinched unconsciously, and the girl let out a terrified cry and pressed closer to Harry, hiding behind him. Harry rolled his eyes. What an appearance just to impress a little first year. At least now it was safe to assume that the girl would not get sorted into Slytherin as Ron surely took over the task to inform her, whose head of house the Potions Master was. Watching Ron stutter an apology to a man he would rather throttle to death was hilarious, but Harry felt his friend building up a temper and he winced barely audible when the magic crackled. Snape jerked around.

"You have something to say, Potter?" Harry straightened and tried to look awake.

"We were just looking for some of her possessions she had missed to pack in her trunk, sir." Harry said rather neutrally.

"Why so apprehensive to use your magic, Potter?" The man managed to make it sound as if Harry was a squib. Harry could hear Ron gritting his teeth, but Harry smiled pleasantly as though Snape had paid him a compliment, and hoped his friend would keep quiet.

"We're not allowed to do magic outside of classes, Professor." Harry reminded him sweetly, displaying utmost respect for his elders. Just barely, Harry refrained from adding some sarcastic comment. He tried hard to stay in his role as much as possible. However, Harry probably would have already changed insults with Snape, had the man come up behind him in that way a year ago.

"Hurry, Potter." Snape snarled at him, his expression one of contempt.